Strategic planning

Developing a strategic vision of how to plan and deliver healthcare services to meet policy priorities is fundamental to meeting local health challenges.

The strategic healthcare planning process is long and complex. It must be centered on a robust clinical evidence base of best practice to ensure that the final solution for the configuration and scale of future service provision is fit for the future, both clinically and financially.

Our multidisciplinary clinical and technical advisory teams have supported many clients in defining the future needs of patients and in developing the clinical case for change. We have undertaken feasibility studies and options analyses and have advised on project finance, technical aspects, procurement strategy, business case development, and economic, environmental, and social impacts.

Our key areas of focus:

Population health

Relevant to policy makers, population health seeks to improve health outcomes for geographic populations and communities. The focus of this assessment is not only the population's overall health but also the distribution of health, considering mean or overall population health and eliminating disparities within the population. Population health takes account of many health determinants or factors, including behavior and the social and physical environment.

We have supported clients across the world to design services for their populations to increase the quality and years of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities.

Defining healthcare service needs

Beyond the perspective of population health, we help clients define healthcare service needs and future demand for services. Our healthcare planning team undertakes quantitative analysis using demographic data, healthcare service-use data, and participatory research, combined with local intelligence and information, to design models of healthcare provision that articulate future patient needs.

Capacity planning

We work closely with clients to derive the scale and scope of services required and the associated capacity. We have built analytical models for activity demand and capacity planning to support future scenarios of service change at local or regional levels. We convert this intelligence into functional service content and layouts. Our expertise in service planning, coupled with our analytical and modeling capability, means we are well placed to support with sizing future healthcare needs.

Infrastructure scoping

Using the outputs derived from capacity planning, we support infrastructure scoping and provide options appraisals, early-stage cost estimates, and necessary guidance for sponsor organizations to decide which infrastructure matches current and future demand models most effectively.

Among our professional staff are more than 10,000 infrastructure-experienced individuals who have undertaken appraisals and feasibility studies of every form of infrastructure in most of the countries of the world.

Business case development

We provide all the technical, commercial, and management expertise needed to support clients from a project's inception to developing the final business case. This includes feasibility studies, advisory services on project finance, technical advice, procurement strategy, and economic, environmental, and social impact assessments.